Disinfectants train bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics
From Alcuin Bramerton
Bacteria can become inured to disinfectants, but research is indicating that the same process may make them resistant to certain drugs. This can occur even with an antibiotic the bacteria have not been exposed to. A National University of Ireland team in Galway has found that by adding increasing amounts of disinfectant to cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lab, the bacteria learnt to resist not only the disinfectant but also ciprofloxacin - a commonly-prescribed antibiotic - even without being exposed to it.
The bacteria had adapted to pump out antimicrobial agents - be they a disinfectant or an antibiotic - from their cells. The adapted bacteria also had a mutation in their DNA that allowed them to resist ciprofloxacin-type antibiotics specifically.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium most likely to infect those who are already seriously ill. It can cause a wide range of infections, particularly among those with weak immune systems such as HIV or cancer patients, as well as people with severe burns, diabetes or cystic fibrosis. Surface disinfectants are used to prevent its spread - but if the bacteria manage to survive and go on to infect patients, antibiotics are used to treat them.
Earlier in 2009 it emerged that treatments in hospitals in Brazil had been compromised by a bacterium, Mycobacterium massiliense, which had developed resistance to a common sterilisation fluid and a number of antibiotics used to treat the subsequent infections. This was very significant because it was the first incident related to resistance to a biocide which led to clinical failure.
Research was also published in 2009 which showed that the disinfecting wipes used to protect against MRSA in hospitals could in fact spread the bug. The solution contained in the wipes was often not sufficient to kill all the bacteria picked up, and hospital staff often used the same wipe to clean more than one surface.
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